Investor from Baltimore, MD (new to Bigger Pockets)

[Rashad Nelson]

Hi all,

Greetings, my wife and I are part-time real estate investors based in Maryland (30 minutes south of Baltimore).  We started in the summer of 2011 with our first rental property (traditional financing), the second rental Feb 2012 (hard money), but we've slowed things down quite a bit since my wife's pregnancy and the birth of our beautiful baby girl, Aria, in late 2012.  Since then while raising our daughter, we've simply worked our respective careers while learning and conducting real estate research on the side.  We've somehow managed to procure a 3rd rental property through an owner-occupied scenario.

I don't want to go into too much detail, but we've recently experienced a heavy loss in our family.  Through heavy reflection, this really has been the catalyst to jump back into the practice of real estate with renewed determination - this practice truly is one of the few roads to wealth and financial freedom afforded to the average American.  My wife and I are grateful for our respective careers, but the thought of us saving for retirement and "hoping" that somehow our life savings will last until we finally expire doesn't hold much appeal.  We need a back-up plan.

In addition, we're currently transitioning to the Atlanta area to be closer to family, so this opens up the door wide open to an additional and very promising investment market (Atlanta is great).   

We really look forward to meeting fellow investors who share similar goals and ideas.  Cheers.

Very best,

Rashad